Early-morning reports on 12 June showed queues exceeding one hour at the Karawankentunnel on Austria’s A11 corridor to Slovenia. The back-ups are being blamed on a combination of peak holiday traffic, ongoing construction works and continued bilateral border controls introduced in 2025. For Austria the tunnel is a strategic mobility artery: more than 10,000 lorries and 15,000 private vehicles use the route daily during the summer. Each unscheduled closure or slow-release block inspection drives up CO₂ emissions and costs hauliers an estimated €90 per truck in idle time. Industry group Zentralverband Spedition & Logistik warns that delays jeopardise ‘milk-run’ supply chains linking Graz and Maribor automotive plants. Travellers should expect further congestion over the Pentecost holiday weekend. Mobility planners advise scheduling departures before 06:00, using the Loibl Pass for light vehicles where weather permits, or shifting freight onto the Tauern rail link. Digital vignette compliance remains mandatory on both sides of the tunnel; recent police checks have issued fines of up to €300 for missing digital tolls. The situation underscores the business cost of prolonged Schengen derogations and has renewed calls from Austrian tourism boards to fast-track a second tunnel tube, scheduled for completion in 2028.
Source: Reisereporter
